Aurobindo Pharma to buy Portugal’s Generis for 135 million euro

Aurobindo Pharma on Saturday said it has inked a pact to acquire Portugal's Generis Farmaceutica SA from Magnum Capital Partners for a consideration of 135 million euros (around Rs 969 crore).

The company has inked a binding agreement through its wholly-owned subsidiary Agile Pharma BV Netherlands to acquire Generis Farmaceutica for a total consideration of 135 million euros, Aurobindo Pharma said in a statement.

Generis produces and sells pharma products in Portugal.

"The acquisition of Generis, by leveraging its strong portfolio and unrivalled brand recognition will allow us to establish ourselves as the top generics player in the Portuguese market," Aurobindo SVP European Operations V Muralidharan said. The combined entity will benefit from a robust pipeline covering all major molecules coming off patent in the next five years, he added.

"This acquisition coupled with our past acquisition activity underlines our commitment to focus on growth initiatives in European markets and will be a a key driver of growth for the future," Muralidharan said.

Closing of the transaction, however, is conditional on obtaining necessary approvals from the Portuguese authorities. The acquisition deal includes the Generis's manufacturing facility in Amadora, Portugal which has a capacity to produce 1.2 billion tablets/capsules/sachets annually.

Generis CEO Paulo Lilaia said the company would benefit immensely from Aurobindo's vertical integration and strong product pipeline.

"Our large portfolio along with our unmatched commercial presence in Portugal will allow Aurobindo to consolidate its market position in Portugal," he added. With the latest acquisition, Aurobindo will now have a portfolio of 271 products in the European nation. The Hyderabad-based firm has been steadily expanding its European footprint since 2006. In 2014 it has acquired Actavis's commercial operations in seven Western European countries.

In another development, Aurobindo Pharma has received final approval from the US health regulator for its Levetiracetam in Sodium Chloride injection used for treatment of seizures with epilepsy.

The company “has received final approval from the US Food & Drug Administration (USFDA) to manufacture and market Levetiracetam in Sodium Chloride injection, 500 mg/100 mL (5 mg/mL), 1,000 mg/100 mL (10 mg/mL), and 1,500 mg/100 mL (15 mg/mL) (single-use bags),” Aurobindo Pharma said in a filing to BSE.

The product is a generic version of HQ Specialty Pharma Corp’s Levetiracetam in Sodium Chloride injection, it added.

“The product will be launched in Jan 2017,” Aurobindo Pharma said.

Levetiracetam in Sodium Chloride injection is a CNS drug and indicated for partial onset seizures in adults (16 years and older) with epilepsy, myoclonic seizures in adults with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy, primary generalized tonic-clonic seizures in adults with idiopathic generalised epilepsy, it added.